Reports

The OIG investigated an allegation that a supervisor within the Office of the Secretary lowered a subordinate employee’s annual performance rating in reprisal for protected disclosures and activities made by the employee. We found no evidence that the supervisor reprised against the employee. We confirmed that the employee made protected disclosures and engaged in protected activities. However, we found that the supervisor would have given the employee the same performance rating absent the protected disclosures and activities.

The OIG investigated allegations that a U.S. National Park Service (NPS) employee sexually harassed a colleague during a trip to gather data from a weather station. We found that the employee made unwanted sexual advances towards the colleague during an off-duty road trip including hugging, kissing, and making inappropriate comments.

We evaluated the National Park Service’s (NPS’) right-of-way (ROW) permitting process and how revenues for commercial cellular facilities are collected and accounted for. We found that the NPS was not properly collecting and accounting for revenues for commercial ROW permits, including the collection of land use fees and cost recovery.

The NPS Needs To Improve Management of its Commercial Right-of-Way Program

The OIG investigated SRC Energy’s self-reported disclosure that it drilled wells through a railroad right-of-way without obtaining a Federal lease or permit to drill. SRC, an oil and gas company based in Colorado, reported its activities to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which referred the matter to our office for investigation. We determined that in 2014, SRC committed mineral trespass violations when it knowingly drilled two horizontal wells in Colorado and produced Federal minerals without a properly executed mineral lease, resulting in a loss of public revenue.